PastorBlastor

Of Figs and Phonies - Mark 11:11-21 By Pastor Lee Hemen October 17, 2010 AM George Barna does research for Christianity and faith practices in America. Recently he completed a study on the “Diversity of Faith in Various U.S. Cities.” It revealed nothing new, except there are some interesting discoveries. Of course, in the Portland, OR market, which includes Vancouver, WA, we discover that they had one of the lowest shares of self-identified Christians at 71% right behind San Francisco. In fact, 16% of this market identified itself as agnostic or atheist with 42% stating they had not attended any church service within the last six months! Notice that the figures do not add up to 100% and the reason is obvious: While many may consider themselves “spiritual” or even “Christian,” they are unwilling to specifically identify themselves. Are these folks hypocrites, phonies, or just plain ignorant of what faith means? Interestingly, during Jesus’ day he faced similar problems conce...

What Makes A Person Clean or Unclean? - Mark 7:1-23 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 21, 2010 AM It is amazing to me that there are those who do not believe in God and those who do believe in God that presume to speak for God. Non-believers can have a false sense of security and self-righteousness by thinking they can just dismiss that God exists, therefore, justifying a kind of self-made morality. Then, there are those who say they believe there is some sort of a god, yet by doing their own thing, they live in kind of a spiritual fantasyland of their own making. For both groups feelings have become their personal spiritual guide. We find no such theology in the Bible. While the Greeks and Romans, of Jesus’ day, could be found spiritually in one of these two aforementioned groups, there were also the Pharisees who followed their own self-inflicted form of spirituality. They justified their pious imprisonment by saying their righteousness came from following the letter of the law. Jesus, in to...

Shriveled Hand and Hearts – Mark 3:1-6 By Pastor Lee Hemen October 11, 2009 AM Have you ever met someone who suffers from a “shriveled” personality? I have. They have become mentally “shriveled” because they are so into themselves that they do not allow anyone or anything to affect their lives. Shriveled personalities can be displayed by those who are angry at the world because of some emotional or physical hurt; those who are emotionally or materially selfish and self-centered; those who only think they have the correct answers for everyone else; or by those who are so spiritually blinded they do not see their saintly shallowness. I knew a man who was so shriveled up inside, because he had lost his first wife to cancer, that he found very little emotional time or empathy for his second wife. And, of course, like many do who are emotionally shriveled up inside, he blamed God for his predicament. People can indeed have shriveled hearts. Jesus saw this disease around him daily but one d...